Use of fans for cooling

[Aw_Ref]

Call me a skeptic. A few months ago I posted a question about buying a chiller. My tank was consistently 84 degrees, even with the lights off. The thought of spending that type of cash didn't thrill me, but I knew I needed do something before the hot summer months hit. fishfreek and thumper both suggested using small fans blowing on the surface to increase cooling and evaporation. I found a quad fan, two-speed set-up on eBay and installed them in my canopy. Two blowing in and two blowing out. I have discovered something...


...my heater works. I was expecting a 2-3 degree pull down, but actually ended up with 8-9 degree pull down. The first morning I checked the temp my heater was actually on (and that didn't even happen during the winter months). I'm sitting consistently at 75 - 76.5 now.

Thanks fishfreek and thumper for the convincing argument (and saving me a HUGE chunk of cash).

[Salttanker]

Very cool.

Mike

[RLG2182]

Good job!!! Just make sure to set your heater for a couple degrees cooler than the constant temp you see during the hot period of the day. Mine is set to 78 degrees, because with my fans, at the hot period of the day, my tank gets up to 80 degrees. You don't want your tank fluctuating temps when it's cool at night. If your tank is running 76 or so constant during the high heat period, set your heater to around 74 or so so the tank temp doesn't move around too much at night.